Play: Kansas City Royals
Rating: 8*

The Kansas City Royals will visit the Minnesota Twins for the opener of a three-game set Monday afternoon. The Twins are off a demoralizing extra innings loss to the White Sox on Sunday, and I think they'll find it tough to rebound here the next day.

Ian Kennedy (9-9, 3.66 ERA) takes the ball for the Royals. He pitched eight shutout innings against the Twins at Kauffman Stadium on Aug. 20, and he has permitted just two runs in 18 innings against the Twins this season. Kennedy was touched for four runs in 6 1/3 innings against the Yankees his last time out, but he had been great in each of his previous six outings and still unbeaten in seven straight starts.

Jose Berrios (2-4, 9.24) takes the ball for Minnesota. He's been reached for four runs or more in five of his last six outings while making it through the fifth inning just once. Minnesota's bullpen had to put in more than seven innings of work in yesterday's 13-11 12th inning loss, so I like the Royals' chances of scoring plenty of runs off both the starter and the reliever staff today.

Royals are 8-2 in their last 10 road games, Twins are 0-6 in their last six home games vs. a team with a winning record.